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Broth recipes from “Clean Soups” by Rebecca Katz

Clean Soups by Rebecca Katz is the sort of book people look to right after New Year’s to mitigate those holiday evenings filled with clam dip, too much eggnog and ten thousand teeny-tiny meatballs.

But that’s exactly why you need Clean Soups right now, to counterbalance the cheerful excess of the holiday season on those evenings when you’re not out partying.

Bonus: when the New year rolls around, your healthy alter-ego will be ready to roll – and it won’t even feel like suffering.

That’s because it’s not suffering. Katz’s basic “Magic Mineral Broth” that is the cornerstone of “clean soups,” is rich, and loaded with healthy ingredients, flavor, and nutrition. It’s versatile, too – serving as the building block of an excellent Thai coconut broth, a beef bone broth, a chicken broth and a mushroom/burdock/ginger “immune” broth. Any one of them, steaming in a cup and enjoyed as a tea, is perfectly satisfying – but as a base for soups, they’re knockouts.

The Clean Soups recipes draw from an international treasury of ingredients and spices – from Cuban Black Bean Soup to Coconut Cauliflower Soup with Ginger and Turmeric, and Tom Yum Gai to familiar classics like Smokey Split Pea, Roasted Apple and Butternut Squash, or Roasted Heirloom Tomato soup – plus an assortment of drizzles, salsas, crumbles and croutons for a snazzy finish.

The soups are integral to Katz’s detox and cleanse program – which is great – but even if you have no use for yoga and your policy is to allow your body to look after itself, you’ll still love this book. Clean Soups allows you to feel both indulgent and self-righteous at the same time.

Use Katz’s “Magic Mineral Broth” as a base for soups and other broths from the book – the book features more than 60 recipes, and they all look good – or sip it as a tea. The “Thai Coconut Broth” uses “magic Mineral Broth” as its base, and is the starting point for many of the Asian soups. Reprinted with permissions from Clean Soups, copyright 2016 by Rebecca Katz with Matt Edelstein. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

In a 12-quart or larger stockpot, combine the carrots, onions, leek, celery, red potatoes, sweet potatoes, yam, garlic, parsley, kombu, peppercorns, allspice berries, and bay leaves. Add the water, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, for at least 2 hours, or until the full richness of the vegetables can be tasted. As the broth simmers, some of the water will evaporate; add more if the vegetables begin to peek out.

Strain the broth through a large, coarse-mesh sieve (use a heat-resistant container under­neath), and discard the solids. Stir in the salt, adding more if desired.

Let cool to room tem­perature before refrigerating or freezing.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.